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Posted in Google AdWords on 14th August 2008 by Ben Rogers
I’ve been digging a bit further into the new layout of the More Sponsored Links on Google and it turns out that any clicks on these adverts are free!
In addition to the clicks being free they are also not recorded by AdWords and do not factor into any part of the system – no impressions, clicks or quality score. And for some, more importantly, if you use Google Conversion Tracking, no conversion events are recorded following clicks on these adverts.
Indeed Google goes on to point out that adverts on these pages are displayed using a different ad serving system to normal search results and adverts that have reached their daily budget still may be displayed here. In Google’s own words “Ads shown include those that have already met the daily budget for that day, ensuring that all ads have the same opportunity for exposure. This also ensures that users have comprehensive results for their query”.
With the new improved layout giving better visibility to adverts from a user perspective, will we now see an uptake in the number of searchers using the system? If this is the case then we will need to look deeper into how we can track these clicks – they are still pay per click adverts after all, it’s just that Google has decided not to charge for them (yet!).
A 3rd party tracking tool may allow you to view conversions that have originated from these clicks even though Google feels they have no importance in their own conversion tracking system. This can be traced through the referring site which rather than www.google.co.uk/search (for normal search traffic) is actually reported as www.google.co.uk/sponsoredlinks.
Further investigation now reveals that any clicks that originate from the More Sponsored Links section will be reported in Google Analytics as Google organic traffic (not referring traffic or paid traffic) making it much more difficult to separate out.
In summary these changes could see an increased uptake in the number of searchers utilising the feature. In turn this will lead to free traffic on your site that you may or may not be able to track depending on the level of complexity in your tracking software. Surely this free traffic from Google can’t last and once they feel happy enough that the system is optimised as much as possible the clicks will start getting charged!
Further Reading
Posted in on 4th August 2008 by Ben Rogers
Recently (we believe the change happened on August 1st) we have seen a change to the display of the sponsored listing pages after the first page of results. When clicking on the “More sponsored links >>” link at the bottom of the normal 10 listings on the right hand side we are now presented with a different 3 column layout, rather than the normal left hand side only listing.
It will be interesting to see if this new, more user friendly layout leads to an increased take up in its use both by advertisers and searchers alike.
The new layout bears a resemblance to the recently developed search engine from some of Googles ex-employees – www.cuil.com. This uses a similar column type layout and it would be interesting to know if the updated display of More Sponsored Links has been influenced in anyway by the new search engine (or vice versa).
Posted in Google AdWords on 17th July 2008 by Tim Barlow
A recent update to the AdWords keyword tool has caused a lot of excitement amoung search marketers, and certainly the introduction of search volume figures (as opposed to an indicator) is welcome.
The Good News
The granularity of data has increased significantly. Rather than measuring on a scale of 1 to 10, we now get from 16 (the lowest I have found so far) to tens of millions and everything in between.
The change does, in my view, make the Google keyword tool better than any other out there.
But I am still Hacked Off
Having compared data with a good few of our AdWords campaigns, it just does not seem to make full sense. The tool seems to over inflate some queries and shrink others.
Google has always done its best to restrict search volume data through “smoothing” type algorithms to make the data pretty much meaningless for all but the most frequently searched queries.
Whilst the new data is a huge improvement it still has this word “approximate” associated with search volume as well as the occasional appearance of “insufficient data”.
Surely if you are reporting figures from last month, then it’s simply a case of reporting what people searched for? In which case there should be no need to be in any way “approximate” about it. And whats the occasional appearance of “insufficient data” about?
I have to interpret this as implying that some sort of masking algorithm is still at work. Much as we love them, Google just don’t seem to be able to let go.
The Attacat Mandate for a Better Keyword Tool
- Show actual recorded search volumes, just like the Overture tool used to do. No approximations/blurring/muddying/bs please.
- No “Insufficient Data search volumes” it was either searched on or it wasn’t.
- Accept that many advertisers are interested in phrases getting very low search volumes often they are commercial gold dust.
- Give the researcher more ability to control the results that come back ֖ sometimes I want to use the tool as a brainstorming tool in which case I don’t mind the suggesting and filtering that goes on currently. At other times I want to know about all the sub phrases of a phrase (in the same way that the Overture keyword tool used to work) to help me structure my Ad Groups effectively and ensure our clients end up with top performing campaigns. (This could be as simple as making match types work intuitively).
- Optional Extra – Show search volumes for different match types for us geeks.
Posted in Attacat on 17th July 2008 by Tim Barlow
£14,000 + generous profit share
This is an opportunity for an enthusiastic person to join our small but perfectly formed team. We expect applicants to get excited by the prospect of getting experience in our industry! No prior experience required.
Job Description
The post holder will need to get involved in a huge variety of tasks related to the day to day running of the company. Whilst some of the work will be routine, we will need your initiative and potentially your analytic skills for a variety of less well scoped tasks. Further you will have the opportunity to gain relevant skills in a rapidly expanding area and should you wish, train for the Qualified Google Advertising Professional exam.
As an integral part of our small team your responsibilities will include the following:
- assisting with the delivery of service to clients, under the direction of our account managers
- compiling reports for our clients
- office management
- making occasional travel arrangements
- answering the phone
The following skills will be required:
- excellent PC skills (Excel knowledge a must)
- self-motivation
- good inter-personal skills
- attention to detail
- last but no means least: enthusiasm!
Please apply to us by e-mailing your availability details, CV and covering letter detailing your suitability for the role to enquiries at attacat dot co.uk
(Please note that we will only reply to those applications we wish to pursue further. Apologies in advance if you don’t hear from us)
Posted in Google AdWords on 19th June 2008 by Tim Barlow
As per the heads up in March, Google AdWords have just announced that the time it takes for your landing page (i.e. the page on your site that the AdWords advert is pointed at) is now considered as part of quality score. In a business sense, this means it will cost you more to get visitors onto your site if your page loads slowly.
As we have been given plenty of warning of this, we have been able to check sites to ensure no issues.
A request to Google – please add a comprehensive quality score report that can be run from the report centre. If you want ideas, feel free to let me know!
Posted in on 11th June 2008 by Eoin
The recent update to the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations Act has garnered much attention in advertising circles for its potential to cause havoc with current buzz marketing practices (practices that, arguably, fall under the stealth marketing umbrella and are therefore already illegalbut thats another issue entirely).
However, the implications for optimisation and paid search marketing as disciplines appear to have passed most SEM & SEO professionals by.
The updated act will outlaw practices such as paid reviews (against Google’s guidelines admittedly but not a criminal offence...until now), paid blogging and other similar grey area promotion tactics.
To a lesser extent exponents of SEM will have to keep a closer eye on what they do in future too, particularly in relation to the use of adverts that may, or may not (depending on interpretation), contravene the regulations contained within the Acts section on Prohibition of Unfair Commercial Practices.
Another area where trouble could really be brewing is the future treatment of affiliates, who could be in contravention of the act if they fail to identify business relationships clearly enough. This, perhaps more than any other issue for paid search, has the potential to be a real can of worms.
One thing is clear, however; those involved in our industry would do well to familiarise themselves with the act, which can be found here.
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